Month: October 2022

The European Union called on Russia to reverse its decision to pull out of the U.N.-led grain initiative and to allow the grain shipments to leave Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted on Sunday: “Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the Black Sea deal puts at risk the main export route of much needed grain and fertilizers to address the global food crisis caused by its war against Ukraine. The EU urges Russia to revert its decision.”

“Russia must go back to agreement to allow maritime corridor for food to reach the world. The EU will play its part to counter the global food crisis,” Borrell tweeted.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned of catastrophic consequences of Russia suspending its participation in the U.N.-brokered grain deal. With the war in Ukraine altering the global patterns of food production and supply, inflation in low-income countries has surged to almost 90%. An estimated 345 million people will experience acute food insecurity this year, the agency said.

As tens of millions of people continue to experience extreme hunger in East Africa and Somalia teeters on the brink of famine as a result of the worst drought in 40 years, the renewed blockade will continue to impede the import of 80% of the grain imported from the Russia-Ukraine region, thereby driving further hunger, the IRC warned.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is “deeply concerned” about the grain initiative, has delayed his trip to Algiers for the Arab League Summit by a day to “engage in intense contacts aiming at the end of the Russian suspension of its participation,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Sunday.

“The same engagement also aims at the renewal and full implementation of the initiative to facilitate exports of food and fertilizer from Ukraine, as well as removing the remaining obstacles to the exports of Russian food and fertilizer,” Dujarric said.

The Kremlin announced its action on Saturday, claiming that Ukraine staged a drone attack against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet off occupied Crimea. Ukraine has denied the allegation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the Russia’s exit “predictable.” He accused Moscow of “blockading” ships carrying grain since September, The Associated Press reported. Currently, 218 vessels are blocked from leaving Ukrainian ports as Russia says it cannot guarantee their safety.

Zelenskyy called for a tough response against Russia from international bodies like the U.N. and the G-20 group of the world’s major economies.

Speaking to reporters in Delaware Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden called Russia’s decision to suspend participation from the Ukrainian grain deal “purely outrageous” and said it would increase starvation.

“There’s no merit to what they’re doing. The U.N. negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it,” Biden said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, “In suspending this arrangement, Russia is again weaponizing food in the war it started, directly impacting low- and middle-income countries and global food prices and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity.”

Blinken said the U.S. is urging “Russia to resume its participation in the Initiative, fully comply with the arrangement, and work to ensure that people around the world continue to be able to receive the benefits facilitated by the Initiative.”

On Sunday, the United Nations, Turkey and Ukraine agreed to a movement plan for 14 vessels that are in Turkish waters, the AP reported.

In a statement, the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, where Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish and U.N. personnel are working, said the three delegations had also agreed for inspections to be provided on Monday to 40 outbound vessels.

Wheat futures are expected to soar Monday as Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea corridor agreement puts Ukrainian exports at risk.

Wheat markets have been volatile due to developments in Moscow’s eight-month-old invasion of Ukraine, as both countries are among the world’s largest wheat exporters.

The Russian Defense Ministry blamed an alleged Ukrainian drone attack against ships of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet anchored off the coast of occupied Crimea for its exit from the agreement. Russia said the attack took place early Saturday; Ukraine has denied the attack.

“In connection with the actions of Ukrainian armed forces … the Russian side cannot guarantee the safety of civilian dry cargo ships participating in the Black Sea initiative and suspends its implementation from today for an indefinite period,” the Russian statement said.

The Russian declaration came one day after the U.N.’s Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine to renew the grain deal.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s first deputy representative to the U.N., also said Saturday that Russia had requested a meeting Monday of the U.N. Security Council because of the alleged attack on the Black Sea Fleet and the security of the grain corridor.

Source: Voice of America

Suspected jihadists have ambushed and killed 13 soldiers in Burkina Faso’s eastern province, security sources told AFP on Sunday, in the latest violence to shake the insurgency-torn west African nation.

Four members of the defense forces were also wounded in Saturday’s attack along the road linking Fada N’Gourma with Natiaboani, one of the sources said.

“Reinforcements have been deployed to secure the zone and carry out a search,” a second source added, confirming the casualty toll. The unit that came under fire had been sent to relieve a detachment from Natiaboani.

The ambush comes after the powerful Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), which is linked to al-Qaida, claimed Friday it carried out an attack on a military base in Djibo, a major northern town that has been under a jihadist blockade for three months.

The army said at least 10 soldiers died and 50 were wounded in that “terrorist” assault on the 14th regiment on Monday.

The army added it killed 18 “terrorists” in mopping-up operations.

GSIM also claimed responsibility for an attack on a supply convoy heading for Djibo on September 26 that left 37 dead – 27 of them soldiers. Dozens of truck drivers are still missing.

That assault helped trigger the latest coup in Burkina just four days later, led by young army Captain Ibrahim Traore.

He became interim president on October 21, vowing to win back territory from jihadists.

It was Burkina’s second coup in eight months, driven by a seven-year insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and driven nearly 2 million people from their homes.

The new government on Wednesday declared securing the Sahel state’s territory would be top priority.

More than a third of national territory remains outside government control.

The authorities also launched a drive to recruit 50,000 civilian defense volunteers to back up the army as the number of attacks increases.

A U.N. envoy warned this week that 4.9 million people, or a fifth of Burkina’s population, need urgent aid as many “mothers were forced to feed their children with leaves and salt.”

Source: Voice of America

Amid the worst drought in 40 years, Horn of Africa countries have been hit by outbreaks of cholera and acute watery diarrhea, while fighting in northern Ethiopia continues, a UN spokesman said.

The start of the October-December rains has been poor, and rainfall will likely continue to be below average. It would make this the fifth consecutive year of a failed rainy season, said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday.

“This could lead to a greater spread of cholera and waterborne diseases,” Dujarric told a daily press briefing. “At least 29 countries have been impacted since January of this year.”

He said the World Health Organization reported a shortage of cholera vaccines due to strained global supplies resulting from the high number of outbreaks globally. Because of the outbreak, the two-dose vaccine strategy will switch to a single-dose approach to save lives.

“But this will further compromise the health and lives of vulnerable children and lactating women, who are severely malnourished,” he said.

The spokesman said that with thousands of people displaced in congested urban areas, there is limited access to water, health and malnutrition services — a recipe for greater and more outbreaks.

In Ethiopia’s Oromia region, 238 cases and seven deaths have been reported, while in the Somali region of Ethiopia, 35 cases and two deaths were recorded.

Kenya declared an outbreak on Oct. 20, and all counties were put on high alert, fearing the drought could worsen the situation. Six counties reported 94 cases and two deaths, he said.

Somalia reported, as of this month, approximately 11,300 cases of acute watery diarrhea or cholera since the beginning of the year, he said.

In northern Ethiopia, fighting continues.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that before the August resumption of hostilities in the northernmost Tigray region, 13 million people needed food and other assistance. With aid deliveries into Tigray suspended for more than two months, supplies are running low. Aid efforts also were disrupted in parts of neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, said the spokesman.

OCHA said humanitarian partners continue to work with all parties to try to get assistance to those who need it wherever they are, based on the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence, he said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

The World Health Organization (WHO) called on health workers and students, patients, public institutions, filmmakers and other interested parties to participate in the fourth edition of the Health for All Film Festival.   

In the opinion of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, this festival has become an extraordinary sounding board for all kinds of health problems faced by people around the world, as well as the experiences of people who devote their lives to improving the health of others.

Films are a great opportunity for those affected to connect with others and contribute to a better understanding of the communities we serve, he added.

The call will be open from Oct 31, 2022 to Jan 31, 2023, and short films of up to eight minutes may be submitted.

The 70 shortlisted films will be screened to the public in April 2023 via the organization’s YouTube channel and website.

Subsequently, a jury composed of leading WHO professionals, artists, activists and high-level experts will choose the winning films.

Three grand prizes will be granted in an equal number of categories corresponding to the Organization’s main global goals in this field: universal health coverage, health emergencies, and improving health and well-being.

On the 75th anniversary of this organization, this edition also welcomes historical films and recently produced films by students presenting their perspective on current issues and future solutions to improve health.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

This year’s United Nations climate summit is brought to you by Coke.

Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co.’s sponsorship of the flagship U.N. climate conference, known as COP27, sparked an online backlash and highlighted broader concerns about corporate lobbying and influence.

The COP27 negotiations aimed at limiting global temperature increases are set to kick off next month in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. The Egyptian organizers cited Coca-Cola’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and key focus on climate when they announced the sponsorship deal in September, which triggered immediate outrage on social media.

Activists slammed the company for its outsized role contributing to plastic pollution and pointed to the deal as an example of corporate “greenwash” — exaggerating climate credentials to mask polluting behaviors. An online petition calling for Coke to be removed as a sponsor has garnered more than 228,000 signatures, while hundreds of civil society groups signed an open letter demanding polluting companies be banned from bankrolling or being involved in climate talks.

Coca-Cola said its participation underscores its ambitious plans to cut its emissions and clean up plastic ocean trash.

Critics say corporate involvement goes against the spirit of the meetings, where tens of thousands of delegates from around the world gather to hammer out global agreements on combating climate change to stop the earth from warming to dangerous levels. This year, the focus is on how to implement promises made at previous conferences, according to the Egyptian presidency.

At COP meetings, “the corporate presence is huge, of course, and it’s a slick marketing campaign for them,” said Bobby Banerjee, a management professor at City University of London’s Bayes Business School, who has attended three times since 2011.

Over the years, the meetings have evolved to resemble trade fairs, with big corporations, startups and industry groups setting up stalls and pavilions on the sidelines to lobby and schmooze — underscoring how a growing number of companies want to engage with the event, sensing commercial opportunities as climate change becomes a bigger global priority.

IBM, Microsoft, Boston Consulting Group and Vodafone also have signed up as sponsors or partners but have drawn less flak for their participation than Coca-Cola.

The United Nations Climate Change press office referred media inquiries to the organizers, saying it was a matter between Egypt and the company. The Egyptian presidency didn’t respond to email requests for comment. The U.N. Climate Change website says it “seeks to engage in mutually beneficial partnerships with non-Party stakeholders.”

Georgia Elliott-Smith, a sustainability consultant and environmental activist who set up the online petition, said she’s calling on the U.N. “to stop accepting corporate sponsorship for these events, which simply isn’t necessary, and stop enabling these major polluters to greenwash their brands, piggybacking on these really critical climate talks.”

Environmental groups slammed the decision to let Coca-Cola be a sponsor, saying it’s one of the world’s biggest plastic producers and top polluters. They say manufacturing plastic with petroleum emits carbon dioxide and many of the single-use bottles are sold in countries with low recycling rates, where they either end up littering oceans or are incinerated, adding more carbon emissions to the atmosphere.

In a statement, Coca-Cola said it shares “the goal of eliminating waste from the ocean” and appreciates “efforts to raise awareness about this challenge.” Packaging accounts for about a third of Coke’s carbon footprint, and the company said it has “ambitious goals,” including helping collect a bottle or can for every one it sells, regardless of maker, by 2030.

Coca-Cola said it will partner with other businesses, civil society organizations and governments “to support cooperative action” on plastic waste and noted that it signed joint statements in 2020 and 2022 urging U.N. member states to adopt a global treaty to tackle the problem “through a holistic, circular economy approach.”

“Our support for COP27 is in line with our science-based target to reduce absolute carbon emissions 25% by 2030, and our ambition for net zero carbon emissions by 2050,” the company said by email.

Experts say sponsorships overshadow a bigger problem behind the scenes: fossil fuel companies lobbying and influencing the talks in backroom negotiations.

“The real deals are handled indoors, you know, in closed rooms,” said Banerjee, the management professor. At the first one he attended — COP17 in Durban, South Africa, in 2011 — he tried to get into a session on carbon emissions in the mining industry, a topic he was researching.

“But guess what? They turned me away, and who walks into the room to discuss, to develop global climate policy? CEOs of Rio Tinto, Shell, BP, followed by the ministers,” Banerjee said, adding that a Greenpeace member behind him was also blocked. “This group of people — mining companies and politicians — are deciding on carbon emissions.”

Elliott-Smith, the environmental activist, attended last year’s COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, as a legal observer to the negotiations. While she’s not naive about corporate-political lobbying, she was “really shocked at the amount of corporates attending the conference, (and) of the open participation between CEOs and climate negotiating delegations in these conversations.”

In Glasgow, retailers, tech companies and consumer goods brands were signed up as partners, but fossil fuel companies were reportedly banned by the British organizers. Still, more than 500 lobbyists linked to the industry attended, according to researchers from a group of NGOs who combed through the official accreditation list.

This year, oil and gas companies might feel more welcome because Egypt is expected to spotlight the region and attract a big contingent from Middle Eastern and North African countries, whose economies and government revenue depend on pumping oil and gas.

Egypt historically sided with developing countries resisting pressure to cut emissions further, which say they shouldn’t have to pay the price for rich countries’ historical carbon dioxide emissions.

Ahead of the meeting, U.N. human rights experts and international rights groups criticized the Egyptian government’s human rights track record, accusing authorities of covering up a decade of violations, including a clampdown on dissent, mass incarcerations and rollback of personal freedoms, to burnish its international image. The country’s foreign minister told The Associated Press earlier this year that there would be space for protests.

Against this backdrop, “it will be that much easier to censor, prohibit or silence attempts by civil society seeking to hold the process accountable to delivering the needed outcomes,” said Rachel Rose Jackson, director of climate research and policy at watchdog group Corporate Accountability. “It will also make the polluter PR and greenwashing surrounding the talks that much more effective.”

Source: Voice of America

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has given Rwandan ambassador Vincent Karenga 48-hours to leave the country in retaliation for Rwanda’s alleged support of the M23 rebels in the Congo’s eastern provinces.

“This is, in part, due to the persistence of (Karenga’s) country to attack the DRC and to support the terrorist movements of the M23,” government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in a televised statement Saturday evening.

The rebel group, which Congo authorities accuse Rwanda of backing but Rwanda denies, seized the town of Kiwanja in eastern Congo Saturday, effectively cutting North Kivu’s capital Goma off from the upper half of the province.

Three Kiwanja residents told Reuters that droves of fighters entered the town without significant resistance after a short spat of gunfire Saturday morning.

A U.N. intervention brigade, which has been supporting government forces, said in a statement that four peacekeepers were wounded in the fighting. The statement did not comment on the fate of the town.

“Attacks against U.N. peacekeepers may constitute war crimes,” it said. “(The mission) calls on this rebel group to immediately cease all belligerence and warns that it stands ready to respond vigorously in the event of further aggression.”

The Congolese army contingent protecting the town had departed the previous day, residents said. The army has conducted strategic retreats from populated areas to move fighting away from towns and protect civilians.

Kivu Security Tracker, which maps unrest in eastern Congo, said the army retreated Saturday from positions at Rumangabo, their largest camp in the area, and that M23 had surrounded the local U.N. peacekeeper camp and the Virunga National Park.

Saidi Balikwisha Emil, a member of North Kivu’s provincial parliament, said in a WhatsApp message: “The fall of Kiwanja and elsewhere is a national disgrace, especially for those of us who spend entire days on social networks casting aspersions on our army.”

“Kiwanja (is) an important entity that opens the direct way to Goma,” he added.

Neither General Sylvain Ekenge, the army’s national spokesman, nor Colonel Ndjike Kaiko, the army’s spokesman for North Kivu, immediately responded to calls and messages requesting comment.

Unrest in North Kivu has broken months of relative calm in eastern Congo after the resumption of clashes between the army and the M23 militants.

Army forces have clashed with rebel fighters several times since fighting resumed Oct. 20, killing at least four civilians and forcing more than 23,000 people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations. Both groups have accused the other of initiating the violence.

When it formed in 2012, M23 was the newest in a series of ethnic Tutsi-led insurgencies to rise against Congolese forces.

Source: Voice of America